miR Scientific Is Transforming Cancer Management Into What It Should Be

Sam is co-founder of miR Scientific and is the company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. A physics scholar who has dedicated his professional career to develop and manage complex systems innovations, Sam has established himself to be a true visionary driven to affect global impact. He is an accomplished world class leader who understands science and its business applications for resolving key challenges facing humanity on a global scale. A champion of public/private partnerships, he is a member of the Board of Trustees and Board of Selectors of the Jefferson Awards for Public Service. Sam attended the American University of Paris in France and Macalester College in St. Paul, MN.

Dr. Martin Tenniswood co-founded miR Scientific in 2013. As Chief Scientific Officer, Martin is responsible for the company’s overall scientific vision and research strategy.  Martin also plays a key role in the translational research and commercialization processes and has been involved in many other areas of the organization in his role as a co-founder.

Martin previously spent 10 years as an Empire Innovations Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University at Albany.  Concurrently, Martin served as the Director of the Cancer Research Center at the University at Albany from 2009-2018. Previous to his tenure at the University at Albany, Martin was the Coleman Chair of Life Sciences at the University of Notre Dame from 1998-2007.  Martin earned his Ph.D in Biochemistry from Queen’s University (Kingston, ON, Canada) in 1979, and his B.Sc (Hons) from Trent University (Peterborough, ON, Canada) specializing in organic chemistry in 1973.

He has authored and published more than 135 peer-reviewed papers and chapters and has edited two books. Since starting his independent career as a Canadian Medical Research Council Scholar at the University of Ottawa in 1983 Dr. Tenniswood’s research has focused on the study of hormone dependent cancers, including prostate, breast and endometrial cancer. His basic research focused on understanding the hormonal control of cell death in these cancers and in in developing new therapies for hard-to-treat hormone dependent cancers, particularly castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and inflammatory breast cancer. His lab has used a variety of high throughput, high content methodologies, including mRNA- and miRNA-based transcriptomics to understand the biology that leads to tumor progression and drug resistance. 

In the course of his academic career he has mentored 31 graduate students, 19 residents and postdoctoral fellows, 47 of whom are still active in research.

Dr. Tenniswood has consulted for numerous commercial entities including Eli Lilly, Millennium Pharmaceuticals Cytochroma and Serono Pharmaceuticals and he has served as scientific reviewer for Medical Research Council of Canada, the National Cancer Institute of Canada, and the National Institute of Health (including the Pathology B study section and the NCI SPORE Review Panels).

Martin has served on the national Susan G. Komen for the Cure Review Panels and volunteered extensively with the local affiliates in Indiana and Northeastern New York region. In recognition of his contributions to the local affiliates he was awarded the status of Pink Tie Guy.

Erik Johnson, Chief Operating Officer, joined miR Scientific in 2021. A seasoned leader in pharma and oncology, Erik spent two decades at Bristol Myers Squibb, where he was instrumental in leading the global commercial scale-up of two groundbreaking immuno-oncology programs. Erik works closely with Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO Sam Salman to lead the Company's global operations, logistics, and enterprise resources for the planned high-volume production necessary for miR Scientific to deliver on its mission to transform cancer management worldwide.

Erik held several key leadership positions during his tenure at Bristol Myers Squibb, which included senior roles in strategy, planning, operations and commercial. As Head of Worldwide Commercial, Immuno-Oncology Melanoma & Genitourinary (GU), he was the worldwide lead for Opdivo® and Yervoy® in those tumors, totaling over $5B in annual revenue.  He also worked closely with R&D to advance pipeline assets for Melanoma and GU. Throughout his career with BMS, Erik launched products for nine new indications, each of which exceeded company expectations. As the brand lead for SPRYCEL®, he drove and executed a strategy that delivered double-digit year-over-year growth, leading the brand to all-time highs in sales and market share.

Erik earned an MBA from the Merage School of Business at University of California, Irvine and received a Bachelor of Science degree from Colorado State University.

He is active in the Pennington, NJ community, where he served as an officer for the Hopewell Valley Education Foundation, actively supports underprivileged kids programs and participates in multiple running and cycling races each year, primarily benefitting cancer research.

Dr. A. Gregory DiRienzo is a co-founder of miR Scientific and serves as the company’s Director of Biostatistics. Greg’s primary responsibilities concern the rigorous development of modern statistical methodology and the design of corresponding software implementations for targeted use in data applications such as high dimensional classification and prediction; longitudinal studies with missing data; and survival analysis. Greg establishes protocols for the design and analysis plans of miR’s clinical studies.  

Greg spent 21 years in academia, most recently as a full-time faculty member in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University at Albany - State University of New York, where he served as chairman from 2011-2017.  He was previously a full-time faculty member in the Department of Biostatistics at Harvard University from 2001-2008.  

Greg has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in leading biostatistics and medical journals and is co-author on several patents with miR Scientific. He completed his Ph.D. in both Mathematics & Statistics and Biometry & Statistics at the University at Albany - SUNY and his Postdoctoral Research Fellowship with the Department of Biostatistics at Harvard University.

Greg is active in his local community, where he volunteers as a tee-ball coach and ice-hockey instructor for young children, as well as actively participating in local food banks for those in need.

Dr. Klotz is the past Chief of Urology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto. He holds the Sunnybrook Chair of Prostate Cancer Research, is the Chairman of the World Uro-Oncology Federation, and past president of the Urological Research Society and the Canadian Urological Association. He was the founder and is chairman of the Canadian Urology Research Consortium (CURC). Dr. Klotz obtained his medical degree from the University of Toronto and completed his residency at the University of Toronto Gallie Program in Surgery. He was a fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York in uro-oncology. Dr. Klotz is a widely published uro-oncologist with over 350 publications and 6 books. His main research interest has been prostate cancer. He is the Associate Editor of the Journal of Urology responsible for Prostate Cancer. He serves on the boards of many medical/scientific organizations and journals, including the SUO, Prostate Cancer Canada, the journals Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases, Brazilian Journal of Urology, Italian Journal of Urology, and World Journal of Urology. Dr. Klotz was awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for meritorious public service in 2012, and the University of Toronto Department of Surgery Lister Prize and the Society of Urologic Oncology Medal in 2013. He received the Harold Warwick Award from the Canadian Cancer Society for "outstanding contributions to cancer control" in 2014. He received the Order of Canada in 2015 and the Richard Williams Award from the AUA in 2016. He received the Dean’s Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Toronto in 2017.

Tal is a seasoned impact investment professional with broad transaction experience that spans industries, sectors and geographies. His roots in the sustainability and healthcare sectors run deep, with corporate leadership roles and prominent presence as investor, advisor and board member in companies and investment funds. As Chief Strategy Officer of miR Scientific, Tal draws on his extensive experience in structuring transactions to craft, articulate and execute strategic dialogues and commercialization initiatives for miR. Tal received his M.B.A. with distinction from New York University’s Stern School of Business and his B.A. degree magna cum laude in Economics from Queens College.

Jill Anderson is Chief Legal Officer, joining miR Scientific in 2020. Jill oversees the company’s global legal operations and advises the company’s leadership on a wide range of strategic legal, regulatory and business issues. 

Jill has nearly twenty years of legal experience in healthcare technology and biotechnology, with specific expertise advising cutting-edge, high-profile bioscience companies and diagnostic laboratories. She most recently served as a partner in the Healthcare and Privacy & Cybersecurity departments at law firm Moses & Singer LLP in New York City. While at Moses & Singer, she acted as outside general counsel to several life sciences companies, including nonprofit research foundations. 

Prior to joining Moses Singer, Jill held roles at Partners Healthcare System and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, where she handled legal issues related to clinical and translational research. She began her career as a securities lawyer at Hale and Dorr LLP (now WilmerHale).

Jill earned her J.D. at Widener University School of Law and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Pre-Medicine from Rutgers University. Jill is very active in the life sciences startup community, frequently volunteering to advise and mentor emerging companies on regulatory and legal issues related to product development.

Eli Mor, General Manager, miR Scientific Israel, joined the company in 2019. Eli is responsible for all of miR Scientific’s activities in Israel, supervising business development, marketing and operations. 

As an executive, Eli has raised capital, executed and integrated acquisitions, established corporations in new arenas and grown revenue. He has developed and launched new product lines, gained immediate market traction, executed turnaround strategies and changed management practices to drive sales.

Eli joined Impact NRS Group as President and Head of International Operations 5 years ago, and serves its subsidiaries as Co-Founder and President of NRS Agro-Innovation and CEO of NRS Poultry Sustainability & Transformation. In these capacities, Eli brings powerful data science, informatics and agriculture together to provide solutions for the world’s most pressing problems.

Previously, Eli spent 7 years at BioHarvest as CFO and prior as Senior Vice President of Business Development, where he led significant fundraising and played an instrumental role in company strategy. Eli has also held senior executive roles at Explay and Terayon Communications Systems.

Eli is a board member and venture partner at EFA Technologies. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting and Business Administration from the College of Management Academic Studies and is also a Certified Public Accountant.

Winnie is Director of Research, joining miR Scientific as Employee #1 in 2017. She previously spent 3 years as the company’s Research Lead and was responsible for the miR Sentinel® Prostate Cancer Test design and process optimization for commercialization.

Winnie has published and authored 11 peer-reviewed articles.

She received her doctorate degree in Biomedical Sciences from the State University of New York at Albany, where she received both the distinguished doctoral dissertation award and academic excellence award for her thesis. Winnie earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from Queen's University in Canada.

Nurit Nitzan is a Senior Vice President at the strategy and corporate development team of miR Scientific.  She is an accomplished corporate executive with extensive experience across various business functions including risk management, financial management and business transformation.

Nurit joined the miR team in 2021 after spending 23 years in various corporate functions with leading Wall Street firm Goldman, Sachs & Co., where she was instrumental in starting up the regulatory relations team for GS Bank USA and subsequently managing third party risk across the newly created consumer business platform. At miR Scientific, Nurit works closely with, and reports directly to, the Chief Strategy Officer. As Senior Vice President, she manages critical aspects of the company's capital formation process and oversees key strategic business.

Sebastiano is an entrepreneur, investor, activist, and advisor to businesses, governments, and nonprofits around the world. He is the chairman and CEO of NKGB, a strategic advisory firm specializing in Asian and European ventures as well as global M&A.

Directly or through his partnerships, Sebastiano is an investor in over 60 companies in the plant-based and cruelty-free space alone, and was an early investor in Beyond Meat (2012).

He is the owner and honorary chairman of Querciabella, a Tuscan organic, biodynamic, and vegan winery that has garnered international acclaim and won numerous awards, including “Best Wine of Italy,” and recently launched the gluten-free pasta brand Bontasana alongside a revolutionary baby food company, with the aim to disrupt the existing landscape.

A longtime animal rights activist, Sebastiano supports and sits on the board of several global nonprofits working to end the exploitation and suffering of animals. He is also the founder of the Plant-Based Empowerment Foundation (PBEF), a nonprofit operating in rural Senegal that is dedicated to providing children and women access to education, healthcare, and nourishing plant-based food.

Sebastiano served as advisor to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi from 2014 to 2016. Originally from Milano, he divides his time among Europe, Asia, and the United States.

Arun is an entrepreneur, investor and technologist focused on Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, AR/VR , IT software and infrastructure for enterprise, data analytics, cloud platform, open source technologies, healthcare and sustainable energy, and is the Chief Executive Officer / Chief Risk & Compliance Officer of Leonie Hill Capital.

He has over 26 years of experience as a product centric founder, General Manager and CEO at startups and Fortune 500 companies in the US, Europe and Asia.

Arun has a diverse background in building enterprise focused startups, and has extensive operational experience in expanding companies in Asia and the emerging markets with a strong understanding of local laws, cultural and market demands, His experience in investing in disruptive startups, coupled with strong financial industry experience from trading to debt financing and equity research has also made him a well recognized and respected quant.

Being a mentor to entrepreneurs building technology-based businesses is Arun’s greatest passion. He is driven by the desire to make a positive impact through helping the entrepreneurs building and scaling businesses focused on new energy sources, achieving petroleum independence, building sustainable medical ecosystems, and promoting pragmatic approaches to environmentalism.

Additionally, he has taken a special interest in micro-finance as a poverty alleviation tool, because of his fervent dedication to social entrepreneurship. He is a supporter of many micro-finance organizations in India, Africa and the Middle East, and is actively building software companies to help them manage and grow in these regions.

He also acts as a liaison officer between the firm and various regulators on matters relating to Anti-Money Laundering/Countering Financing Terrorism etc., advising on implementation of best practices particularly with regards to AML/CFT regulations, and ensuring compliance with laws & ordinances.

At Leonie Hill Capital he developed robust investment decision making processes, on-going portfolio monitoring, evaluation and back office infrastructure to manage large in house portfolios.

Arun has an MBA from Stanford University and a B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering from IIT, Madras.

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Dr. Deepak A. Kapoor, Chairman and Chief Ecosystem Officer of Solaris Health Holdings, LLC, is one of the youngest physicians to have been certified by the American Board of Urology.  In addition to his role at Solaris Health, Dr. Kapoor serves as Market President for Integrated Medical Professionals, PLLC (IMP) and is President of Advanced Urology Centers of New York.

Dr. Kapoor received his baccalaureate and medical education with honors in the Pennsylvania State University/Jefferson Medical College accelerated honors program in medicine and completed his urologic residency at The Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA. His expertise includes basic science research in molecular biology, as well as extensive experience in oncologic and reconstructive surgery

Dr. Kapoor is Clinical Professor of Urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Chair of Health Policy and Past President of LUGPA, Chairman of SCRUBS RRG and Senior Strategic Advisor for miR Scientific. He has also served as a Director of UroPAC and Chairman of Access to Integrated Cancer Care. Dr. Kapoor was founder of the New York Urology Trade Association and Integrated Medical Foundation. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physician Executives.

Dr. Kapoor has published and lectured extensively on clinical, business and health policy issues and is Associate Editor of the journal Urology Practice. He serves on a number of medical advisory boards, including the New York State Governor´s Prostate Cancer Advisory Panel. Dr. Kapoor has been continuously listed in the Castle Connolly Best Doctors Guide for his clinical excellence and has received numerous accolades, inlcuding the 2011 AUA Ambrose-Reed socioeconomic essay award, and the 2014 New York Section AUA Russell W.  Lavengood distinguished service award.  Dr. Kapoor was recognized in 2018 by LUGPA for his outstanding contributions to health policy and his work towards the preservation of independent medicine.

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Jim Roosevelt joins miR Scientific with extensive executive and advisory experience in health care, life sciences, corporate governance, legislative and regulatory matters, and politics. Jim served as CEO of Tufts Health Plan for more than 10 years, where he led a corporate turnaround that achieved significant growth and consistent profitability for the company. Before joining Tufts Health Plan, Jim served as Associate Commissioner of the U.S. Social Security Administration, and he was in-house General Counsel and former partner in Choate Hall & Stewart, a leading national law firm based in Boston.

Jim is passionate about politics and public policy. He is a clinical instructor in the Public Health and Community Medicine Department of Tufts University School of Medicine. He co-chairs the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the Democratic National Committee, is volunteer legal counsel for the Massachusetts Democratic Party, and is a trustee of the Cambridge Public Library and the Cambridge Community Foundation. Additionally, Jim is a member of the FAIR Health, Inc. Board of Directors, and he serves as Chair of the Massachusetts Health Quality Partners Board of Directors.

Jim is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association, the Boston Bar Association’s Health Law Committee, and the American Bar Association’s Health Law Section.

Previously, Jim has been a visiting fellow at the Institute of Politics of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, co-chaired Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo's Healthcare Leaders Task Force on Health Care Cost Growth and co-chaired the Massachusetts Hospital Association's work group on access to behavioral health care.

Jim earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and he earned his B.A. from Harvard College. He also graduated from Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.

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Mr. Weinstein is focused primarily on international business development for Vanterra Accelerator portfolio companies. Mr. Weinstein has more than 30 years of experience in the healthcare and wellness industries, both operational and investing. Mr. Weinstein co-founded WM Partners in 2015, a leading health and wellness focused private equity fund. Previously, Mr. Weinstein was the CEO of CFR Pharmaceuticals S.A. (“CFR”) for ten years, where he was responsible for transforming that company from a local Chilean pharmaceutical company into a major global pharmaceutical company with a presence in 26 countries and three continents, via 15 acquisition transactions. Under Mr. Weinstein’s leadership, in May 2011 CFR completed an initial public offering, one of the largest IPOs in Chile. In September 2014, Mr. Weinstein led the sale of CFR to Abbott Laboratories for approximately $2.9 billion.

Mr. Weinstein has been active in developing and managing several businesses and start-up companies via joint ventures with local and foreign R&D companies. Mr. Weinstein has served as a board member in several businesses within the pharmaceutical industry and other industries in three continents.

Mr. Weinstein received a Business and Administration degree from the Universidad Catolica de Chile, and is a certified public auditor and accountant. He participated in the Owner/President Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Mr. Weinstein has more than 10 years experience as executive and investor in the life sciences industry. He most recently served as Vice President of Innovation and Development at Abbott Laboratories. Prior to that he was Vice President of Strategy and Innovation at CFR Pharmaceuticals. He has a proven track record of launching over 300 products in the Pharmaceutical industry in Latin America and completing more than 20 licensing deals including Biotech products and Medical Devices.

He currently serves as a Board Member of Arterys, Convexity Scientific, Hygieacare and Medasense. He previously was a board member of BMRC, a biotech research consortium in Chile.

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